LOS ANGELES — The 2006-07 season was yet another disappointing one for the Los Angeles Kings, who have not qualified for the playoffs since the 2001-02 season.

But while the team was a near-cellar-dweller last season, the 2007-08 Kings should be an improved team, even though they it would take a small miracle for them to be a Stanley Cup contender.

To be sure, last season was a disaster on the ice for the Kings, who finished with a 27-41-14 record, good for just 68 points. They ranked 14th in the fifteen-team Western Conference, a whopping 28 points out of playoff contention.

But while the Kings stumbled and bumbled their way through many games last season, President/General Manager Dean Lombardi and his staff were hard at work, reloading the team’s depleted system with some talented, young prospects.

Now in the second year of their first real rebuilding process, the Kings are already starting to reap the benefits as their younger players are starting to assume leadership roles on the team, and even young prospects are starting to fill key roster spots with the big club.

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